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June 1, 2013

From Archives..

(Sometime back I wrote this essay for an online writing course. It is about role of expressive writing in healing:)
﻿I remember a child who had difficulty talking: he stammered whenever he spoke and his eyes will flutter (like a trussed up bird) and face will break into weird spasms, and his speech? that would sound like nothing on earth! That would shock other children. And put them off. This child would often spend time with a book at the edge of the play ground. Getting lost in a world of adventure and fancy was a lot easier than holding a sustained conversation with others and dealing with their prejudices. The child slowly fell in love with words and their power to conjure up things unseen. So much so, that he began using big ostentatious words in his essays and other school assignments- often eliciting a frown from the teacher. Many years later, the child made peace with his stammering; accepted openly that he stammered; rose above shame, fear and self loathing. He also became free of the need to prove anything- his subconscious need to use big words and complex sentences. He discovered the beauty of writing simply. He discovered the joy of being who he was, instead of trying to fit into some notion of who he should be. This is my story. Many years ago, I read that if a covert stutterer could accept his stammering, he will be able to come out of the deep denial and shame. Writing seemed safest and most practical way of doing it. I decided to write a blog. After postponing it for many years, I wrote my first post when I was about 47. I did not just write as a reporter but as some one reliving those moments- a very expressive kind of writing. It worked. My perception of my stammering and feelings towards it, changed radically. I felt lighter. I began talking to others: other stutterers. They too were facing the same issues. They too began writing on this blog- the first of its kind in India. A self help community slowly sprang up. My writing benefited a lot by my reading habits. I had started reading Enid Blyton as a reclusive child; then, gradually I covered authors like Dickens, Thomas Hardy, Mark Twain, Emile Zola, Walter Scott, Agatha Christie etc. In recent times, I read too many modern writers to recall their names. But some have stuck in my head for different reasons: For example, Boris Pasternack, for writing a very complex but a truly memorable love story (Dr Zhivago) and Ruskin Bond, for writing simple but touching stories about children in Indian Himalayas.In the meantime, I came across a website: Veils of Stuttering. It helped me understand how the experince of being "different" can warp our thinking, feeling, acting and even writing. Once I became aware of it, I treid to write in a simple and direct fashion rather than beat around the bush.So, what have I learned from these experiences and writers? Dont be ashamed of emotions- Life is much more than just events. And secondly- be simple and straightforward. Just tell, what you want to tell- rather than spinning out a yarn. I was trained as a doctor in 1970's but only now 40 years later, I was beginning to realize that all the healing and wholeness actually resides inside us- never outside. And writing, honest expressive writing - can bring it out of you. It can put you in touch with your inner larger Self. Writing for a stutterer is like a bridge between his social self and his true inner self. Talking was always difficult- even if I were to talk to myself. But writing bypassed that clogged channel as if it were- and I was communicating freely with my inner self through writing. In the process of writing, I was reliving my experinces, examining them and making sense of them. Day after day, posting on the blog, I began to see the larger patterns and the deeper meaning behind the suffering, my so called "speech impediment". Some years later, I contributed a paper on this theme to an online conference organsied by a well known professor of Communication disorders. I received some encouraging feedback. More than that, I read papers by others in the same conference and it broadened my horizon. I got in touch with others who were working on the theme of self help and the role of expressive writing. In brief- I think, reading, writing, thinking and speaking- are all inter-related and inter-dependent. One helps the other. And they all influence how you feel about yourself. Have you ever felt "different"? If so, pick up your pen. Your sharing might help others out there. It might help you too..

3 comments:

I would always remain a great fan of yours ..having said that i have chosen few lines from your write up..and i wish to contradict them..not just for the sake of it..but because i genuinely feel the desire to..

"And secondly- be simple and straightforward. Just tell, what you want to tell- rather than spinning out a yarn." "He also became free of the need to prove anything- his subconscious need to use big words and complex sentences. He discovered the beauty of writing simply. ""that he began using big ostentatious words in his essays.."

My contradictions.. Spinning Yarn : I am sorry but many of us are visual...3d..talkers..we imagine stories while talking..and we enjoy juggling with words..while talking..we do not like straight forward approach..for many of us a dialogue between two of us has to be more than just exchange of specific information..in few parts of India ..a person is regarded high for his command on his language....

2)Many of us do not wish to prove anything when they write..they just write..its like Ronnie O sullivan plays complex shots which a classical snooker player would not choose to play..but he does..because he is in love with the game and he is beautifying the game by playing those shots..not that he has to prove to anyone..

3."using ostentatious words "The usage of the word "ostentatious" by you would have sent many a readers googling the meaning.. the word itself is very complex and inherently ostentatious..you could have used simpler substitute words..or phrases..like..flashy..showy..pretentious ..but you haven't because sir..your unconscious minds vocabulary has evolved..and it loves the use of words..your brain constantly seeks a better word..which may be complex or simple..

Sir.. i know you would agree a language cannot develop within boundaries..it has to explore nooks and corners..its like a muscle cell..stretch it more..and it develops..

I also agree that a writer has to keep in mind the target audience..when he writes..

the essay was yours..i wish the teachers wouldn't hadn't frowned on it..

But if the kite has chosen the high sky to fly..it would catch every wind ..however powerful..complex.. soft or simple the wind is.. it would just fly..!!

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What is TISA

TISA is an association of Indian people who stammer (IPWS). Its purpose is to collect and disseminate relevant, correct and unbiased information for people who stammer and their families, friends and society in general. It is promoting a self help group movement, where PWS learn to help each other and themselves in the ancient Indian spirit: “This Self is to be achieved through self effort!”

In order to become its member, you just have to participate in its activities- SHG, workshops, get-together etc. This blog has migrated to http://stammer.in/ - our main website.

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianPWS/ is the chat group where we, the IPWS meet and discuss issues and plans, while this blog continues to be available as an archive. Personally identifiable information has therefore been suppressed wherever necessary or requested. Our intention is to reflect the diversity of this land and represent the Indian slant on the issues, opinions and perspectives related to stammering. Stammering and stuttering have been used in the same sense.